Hass Avocado Board taps Joe Montana for Super Bowl promotion

by | January 05, 2011

Estimating that 69.6 million pounds of Hass avocados will be consumed
during this year's Super Bowl festivities, the Hass Avocado Board is
implementing a marketing campaign to further encourage consumer
purchases of Hass avocados leading up to and during this key sales period.
Building on the success of last year’s program, HAB has again tapped football
legend Joe Montana to serve as the program’s spokesperson.

"Guacamole and football go hand in hand, so it’s no surprise that the big
game is one of the biggest consumption days of the year for Hass avocados,"
Jose Luis Obregon, executive director of board, said in a Jan. 5 press release.
“This is our sixth year implementing a program in support of the big game,
and each year we continue to build on the previous year’s success to further
encourage consumer demand of the fruit. Through consistent marketing
support by the Hass avocado industry and retailers, Hass avocados have
become a staple in the big game menus.”

Continuing his partnership with HAB, legendary NFL quarterback and four-
time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana will serve as the official spokesperson
for the big game campaign. The sports legend has worked with HAB to
develop another signature guacamole recipe - Joe Montana’s Tomatillo
Touchdown Guacamole – that is being distributed to consumer media
nationwide. He also will participate in interviews with top-tier sports media
on-site in Dallas (the location of the Big Game) in the days leading up to the
championship game.

“Joe Montana is synonymous with football greatness,” Mr. Obregon added in
the press release. “We had a successful campaign with Joe as our
spokesperson last year and are excited to continue the partnership for this
year’s program.”

To help consumers build their Big Game parties with Hass avocados, HAB’s
consumer web site will feature a host of recipes and party planning tips.
Additionally, HAB will create a Big Game micro site that will feature Joe
Montana’s signature guacamole recipe, as well as other game day-inspired
dishes. As an added feature, avocado enthusiasts will have the opportunity to
create a “recipe playbook,” where they can store all of their game-day recipes
in one location, as well as have the option to share their recipes with friends
via social media channels.

The program also will be supported by on-line advertising leading up to the
big game to capture traffic of shoppers searching for recipes and party
planning ideas. HAB also will encourage consumers to add Hass avocados to
their shopping lists though a big game-themed recipe e-newsletter sent to
more than 50,000 fans that will be distributed in January.